Good news from Iraq

The media tells us how badly things are going in Iraq daily . Here is some good news they have not told us . I read cent.com articles regularly , they are posted on the Central Command website almost daily and are written by soldier/reporters in the field . Check out cent.com when you want some news not filtered by the US media .

For example -

Iraqi forces control much of northern Iraq

Monday, 12 March 2007
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON — Three of the four Iraqi army divisions in the north are now under the control of the Iraqi Ground Forces Command, and U.S. troops are turning over more counterinsurgency operations to those units, the top U.S. commander in the region said.

This will allow U.S. forces to refocus its combat operations and to continue working with local governments on economic issues, said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Multinational Division North.

U.S. troops are now serving more in an “advise-and-assist role,” Mixon said. U.S. combat operations are more focused on specific targets, such as individuals and groups who finance, make and use improvised explosive devices.

Mixon reported that Iraqi units in the region are manned at about 85 percent. They do, however, have significant equipment shortages, he said.

The final division should fall in under Iraqi command and control by this summer. To help train the Iraqi troops, Mixon has added nearly 400 U.S. soldiers to his military transition teams. To help train the Iraq police, 33 transition teams were added.

I have not read any good news lately in the papers , but things are happening over there , and sort of on schedule . It must be understood that Iraq is building an army and trying to do so in the face of terrorist and extremist opposition hourly . If we back out now , these efforts will be negated in weeks if not days .

Mixon reported that Iraqi units in the region are manned at about 85 percent. They do, however, have significant equipment shortages, he said.

The final division should fall in under Iraqi command and control by this summer. To help train the Iraqi troops, Mixon has added nearly 400 U.S. soldiers to his military transition teams. To help train the Iraq police, 33 transition teams were added.

Work is still needed, however, with the border security forces and with the strategic infrastructure battalions, those that secure critical oil refining and delivery infrastructure.

Mixon put dedicated training teams with the strategic infrastructure battalions but had to “weed out some of the bad eggs” in those battalions who were working with insurgents or stealing oil.

“They still need to make improvements in their overall manning, their equipping and their general professionalism, and we continue to work that each day,” Mixon said.

Mixon noted that the oil refining and delivery infrastructure was in poor condition before the war, so considerable investment is needed to fix those problems.

The general said he is encouraged by progress made in the northern provinces of Nineveh, Kirkuk and Salahuddin, but that sectarian violence still plagues Diyala province. He has moved more forces into Diyala province and increased offensive operations to throw the insurgents “off balance” and prevent them from reinforcing operations in Baghdad, he said. In the past two months, coalition forces have seen a 30 percent increase in offensive actions and attacks and have killed more than 175 enemy forces in Diyala, Mixon said.

“We see the Sunni insurgency trying to desperately gain control of Diyala, because it helps in their effort to control Baghdad and to prevent the government of Iraq from succeeding,” Mixon said. “Over time, I am confident that the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police will overcome these security threats in cities like Baqubah, Balad Ruz and Muqdadiyah, and throughout Diyala province.”